In a big jolt to National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) aspirants from Tamil Nadu, the Supreme Court on Thursday stayed a Madras High Court direction that asked CBSE to set up more centres in the state for the upcoming medical test on Sunday, May 6.

CHENNAI: In a big jolt to National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) aspirants from Tamil Nadu, the Supreme Court on Thursday stayed a Madras High Court direction that asked CBSE to set up more centres in the state for the upcoming medical test on Sunday, May 6.

As a result, hundreds of TN students will now have to travel to Kerala to appear for the NEET UG exam.
The top court accepted CBSE’s plea that new exam centres cannot be established at such short notice.

According to reports, 1000 to 1500 students will have to travel to Ernakulum and other centres in Kerala.

Stressed-out, parents complain that travelling to the exam centres by bus or train will be a nightmare due to ongoing summer vacations, because of which no tickets are available.

In another case, the Delhi High Court on Thursday allowed a plea moved by Sikh students seeking permission to wear traditional `kada` and `kirpan` inside the exam hall in the upcoming NEET exam.

"Ask those in traditional attire to come an hour early," a bench of Justice S. Ravindra Bhat and Justice A.K. Chawla told the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) which conducts the pan-India examination.

The court order came on a plea by the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee who argued that Sikh students cannot be barred from carrying traditional attire in the examination hall.